Mike Montgomery has converted a few H18's, including a Tiger mast/mainsail conversion....Generally, he was not happy with the jib causing the main to back wind.

The locking mechanism and the downhaul are easy to do, the backwinding is not.Suggest you search the Forum, can't remember the 'handle'. Search by author?Mike, if you read this, can you 'ding' Cork Guy?

Because I do not race in Hobie sanctioned events, I decided to replace the original 21 year old SX sails with custom Pentex sails from Chip at Whirlwind. Once the wind is over 10 knots, we can smoke anything on the river, except Tornado's and Inter 20's. Especially now that we've added a Tiger spin.

_________________1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Jokes aside, I too have wishes. A Hobie Tiger with a permanent crew for racing (will never happen) and my trusty stead the H18.

But it goes beyond this. I sail primarily on an inland dam and +95% by myself. Wife prefers Cappuccinos etc.

To this end when it blows I do not have a hope in hell of keeping the H18 upright. So comes some of my recent thinking and that is to get a H14 mainsail but keep the H18 jib. In short drop the boat's power and still be able to sail single handed in winds up to 20 knots.

As a young kid (5 1/2), I can remember a 'Black' South Easter in Cape Town. My (late) dad and I were walking to the apartment in Orangezicht, turned the corner, and if my dad had not been holding onto my jacket, I would have been swept away like a piece of paper in that wind. So I am familiar with wind conditions in the Cape.

One of the great things about H18 design is that you can quickly depower the sail plan. My suggestion is that in high winds, you furl the jib, loosen the outhaul and downhaul, and you should be able to handle wind up to 20 knots of steady wind without too much of a problem. Gusty and swirly winds over 12 knots are always a challenge.Are there other boats around in case of a capsize?

Have you 'learned' to sail while trapped out? It's tough, and you'll need to do that to sail upwind. Wave action might cause a headache...

Where do you sail out of? Zeekooivlei? Saldanha? PE?

_________________1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

No I am sailing at Witbank dam .... +- 180 km east of Johannesburg where we have a water's edge weekend house.

As far as sailing goes, I am very experienced with a number of various sailing titles under the belt and I love trapping single handed.

The problem is that in our case the wind is not steady and when the gusts comes, it is a real mission impossible to let out both jib and main whilst trapped and steering. Hell but its great fun and the view from high up is quite daunting.

You feel that windward hull lift and within this short time span, there is no stopping to this lift until you are real high.

Loosening the downhaul and outhaul will not work in our gusty conditions.

I just need the smaller sail area for heavier winds whilst sailing single handed.

I have wings (which can help) but have never bothered to fit as they do not interest me.

Sorry I missed this post. The tiger sail will work on any H18SX. All you do is cut the hook off the head plate and it will work like your current sail. I would add the aluminum track at the top to prevent the sail from pulling out while sailing, squaretops can pull out.

To defend John, the H18SX with Whirlwind squaretop is very fast. If running on the same line it is as fast as most F18s. The difference is in the daggers and the lift they provide. Racing bouys the F18 will walk away only to be corrected by Portsmouth.

My boat has a self tacking custom jib and mid-pole spin system. My mast is showing age so I am considering changing to a Tiger mast to get the added tuneability. I would take my H18 over any F18 for the sailing I like to do.

You cut the hook off flush with the top of the head plate. Use the halyard hole to engage your twist shackle and hoist. I sold my tiger sail and have a much larger and faster Whirlwind square top now. My jib is custom made by Whirlwind as well. The tiger jib works but leaves a big gap. Chip has the specs for my sails and they are spot on IMO. The best thing about the self tacking system is how it opens the tramp up. I always hated the jib tracks and blocks being on the deck.